Zimbabwean professional golfer Stuart Krog carded a two-under-par 70 in the final round to secure his first top-10 finish on the Sunshine Tour this season in the Mopani Zambia Open at Nkana Golf Club in Kitwe on Sunday.
Krog made five birdies against three bogeys to climb to three-under-par for the tournament.
He finished 13 shots behind the winner MJ Viljoen from South Africa, who closed with a superb 65, which lifted him to 16-under-par for the coveted title in the R2.5-million event.
Viljoen finished well clear of Zambian golfer Dayne Moore, who shot 70 in the final round to finish second on 10-under-par.
Krog was the highest placed Zimbabwean golfer in the Mopani Zambia Open as he continues to make steady progress in his second season on the South Africa-based Sunshine Tour.
The 28-year-old Harare-born golfer has now made the cut in all three tournaments of the new Sunshine Tour season.
He teed off the new season with a tie for 45th place in the FBC Zim Open before a tie for 35th at Kit Kat Cash and Carry ProAm and a 17th place finish at Sunbet Challenge Sun City last week.
“My performances so far this season have been pretty good. I can’t complain about the start of the season because every week I just get a little better and a bit more comfortable,” Krog said ahead of his trip to Zambia.
“FBC Zim Open remains the most memorable competition for me so far but I didn’t really play the way I wanted to play. Sun City (last week) was also a great event. The Gary Player Country Club is a brilliant course, very difficult, very hard, very challenging and I feel like doing well there was my biggest accomplishment so far this year.
“The rest of the year I just want to keep getting better every day and hopefully get a win under my belt. But the target is just to keep improving as much as I can,” he said.
Krog’s performances have been improving with every tournament that he has played on the Sunshine Tour this season.